Timings & File Sizes

The K2000 is a pleasantly fast little camera with very little that ever causes you to have to wait around. Even in single release mode it's happy to rattle off a couple of frames (though you have to wait a couple of seconds after it's done so). Even in RAW+JPEG mode the K2000 is perfectly snappy.

Timing Notes: All times calculated as an average
of three operations. Unless otherwise stated all timings were made on
a 3872 x 2592 BEST JPEG (approx. 4,100 KB per image).

The media used for these tests were:

4 GB SanDisk Extreme III SDHC card

8 GB Lexar Pro 133x SDHC card

Action

Details

Time, secs
(4 GB SanDisk)

Time, secs
(8 GB Lexar)

Power Off to On *1

0.7

0.7

Power Off to Shot

0.5

0.5

Sleep to On

0.5

0.5

Power On to Off

0.3

0.3

Record Review *2

RAW

1.5

1.5

Record Review *2

JPEG

1.2

1.2

Play *3

RAW

0.5

0.9

Play *3

JPEG

0.5

0.9

Play Image to Image

RAW

0.4

0.3

Play Image to Image

JPEG

0.4

0.3

*1

This is the time from power on to the recording information display being shown on the LCD monitor. Note that this is slightly slower than the Off to Shot time.

*2

Time taken from
the shutter release being pressed to the review image being displayed
on the LCD monitor.

*3

The image is displayed as a slightly pixelated version almost instantly. The quoted figure is the time it takes for the high res image to be displayed.

Continuous Drive mode

To test continuous mode the camera had the following settings: Manual Focus, Manual Exposure (1/160 sec, F5.6), ISO 100. Measurements were taken from audio recordings of the tests. Media used were the same as above.

The tests carried out below measured the following results for JPEG and RAW:

Next burst - How soon after the burst it is fully written to the CF (indicator goes out)

Burst of JPEG Large/Best images - Continuous Hi

Timing

4 GB SanDisk
Extreme III SDHC

8 GB Lexar
Pro 133x SDHC

Frame rate (average)

3.3 fps

3.3 fps

Number of frames

6

6 *1

Buffer full rate

1.6 fps *2

1.6 fps *2

Next burst

~4.6

~4.6

*1

With the Lexar card it was occasionally possible to get seven frames in a burst but at an average speed of around 2.8fps.

*2

After the buffer has run full you don't get a consistent number of frames per second but a 'fairly random sequence' of shots. The number stated in the table is the average fps for this sequence.

Burst of RAW images - Continuous Hi

Timing

4 GB SanDisk
Extreme III SD HC

8 GB Lexar
Pro 133x SDHC

Frame rate (average)

3.3 fps

3.3 fps

Number of frames

4

4

Buffer full rate

0.8 fps *

0.8 fps *

Next burst

~5

~6

*

After the buffer has run full you don't get a consistent number of frames per second but a 'fairly random sequence' of shots. The number stated in the table is the average fps for this sequence.

The advertised frame rate of the K2000 is 'Approx' 3.5 frames per second, which is essentially the result we got. And, while this makes it one of the faster cameras in its sector, it also has the smallest buffer, only being able to shoot for 6 JPEGs in a burst, rather than the unlimited JPEG bursts of its rivals.

To demonstrate the K2000's uneven post-burst shooting rate, we have included this sound sample of a continuous shooting burst in mp3 format (Click on the graphic to download).

File Flush Timing

Timings shown below are the time taken for the camera to process and "flush" the image out to the storage card. Timing was taken from the instant the shutter release was pressed to the time the storage card activity indicator went out. The activity indicator light comes on around 1.2 seconds after shutter release, hinting at the time taken to process an image. Writing continues 'in the background' and doesn't affect any camera function. Media used were the same as above.

Image type

Time, secs
(4 GB SanDisk)

Time, secs
(2 GB Lexar)

Approx.
size

3872 x 2592 RAW

2.0

2.0

8,100 KB

3872 x 2592 JPEG ***

1.5

1.5

2,800 KB

3872 x 2592 JPEG **

1.5

1.5

1,800 KB

*1

The K2000 begins writing approximately 1.2 seconds after the shutter release is pressed so you must subtract this 'processing time' from the timings above to get the actual write time.

The fast write times of the K200D are still present on the K2000, with the camera able to move around 8MB of data to the card in two seconds. Experience when timing the continuous shooting rate suggests that not all activity has finished when the activity indicator goes out (Even after activity appears to have ceased, you can't always got a full 'empty buffer' burst), so these figures are slightly approximate.

USB transfer speed

The K2000 only offers the Mass Storage protocol for image transfer to your PC or Mac (most people won't really miss PTP) and performs very impressively at aroun 9 MP/sec transfer speed. However, a good card reader is considerably faster and doesn't involve running batteries down, so it's what we'd recommend.